Big Idea - In Rembrandt's painting of the storm on the sea, he paints himself in the boat with the 12 disciples and Jesus. He can identify with the experience of the disciples who are all struck with terror in the face of this fierce storm that is threatening their very lives. Like Rembrandt, it's not hard to paint ourselves in the picture, for life has its stormy days. Sometimes those storms are so severe they threaten our very lives. Jesus never promised that if we follow Him, He will make life smooth sailing from beginning to end. In fact, He promised just the opposite - in this world, you will have trouble. The good news, however, is that we do not need to go through this trouble alone. Jesus is with us in the boat, and that makes all the difference in the world! Rembrandt chose to paint the picture with the storm still raging and Jesus still half asleep rather than a moment later when Jesus, with all authority and power, is rebuking the wind and calming the sea. It is not because the artist didn't believe Jesus calmed the storm, but because he understood that in real life, in the midst of the storm, when we feel like we are about to sink, that is the time we need faith and courage. Jesus will eventually calm the raging sea, but how do we respond when it feels like Jesus is asleep, and in the silence we wonder if God really cares for us? What do we do when we find ourselves caught in a storm that feels like it is about to sink us, and we wonder if Jesus cares or even knows about our trouble? The storms will come, so how can we survive the storms of life with the courage Jesus expected His disciples to demonstrate?

First, we need to take Jesus with us in the boat! This is the first basic truth of what it means to be a true follower of Christ. When we put our faith in Him, He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us! Secondly, we need to seek Jesus' help at the first sign of trouble. Our problem is that we often think we can solve the problem ourselves. We are convinced we can fix it, or we can overcome it on our own. So, we take matters into our own hands. Unfortunately, this works sometimes, so it only reinforces our confidence in ourselves rather than training us to rely on God. Prayer is not our first instinct. It becomes our last resort!

But, there are times when our cries for help appear to be met with the silence of God. Jesus seems to be sleeping as the storm rages on, and it seems our prayers are unheard. What do we do then? Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of courage and lack of faith in the midst of the storm. Jesus expected them to face the storm with the kind of faith that would give them the courage to persevere and go through the storm with the same calm and peace that enabled Him to sleep in the midst of it all. Where does that kind of faith come from? How can we grow that kind of faith in our hearts? The disciples give us the answer in their crucial question that closes the story - 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” They had Jesus in the boat with them, which was all they needed, but they didn't fully grasp or understand who Jesus really was! Jesus was fully human, drained, and exhausted after a full day of teaching. They saw the human Jesus, who was a great but often perplexing teacher. They did not yet see the divine Jesus, who was also fully God! Jesus gets up and, with a word of rebuke, tames the wind and muzzles the storm. There is no human or even evil spirit who can do that. God alone controls the powerful forces of nature. Jesus demonstrates clearly who this is - He is fully God. We need Jesus on the boat with us. We need to seek Him at the first sign of trouble. But most of all, we need to know who Jesus really is! He is God Almighty, who has the power to calm the storms, and He cares more than we can imagine, no matter our circumstances! This knowledge needs to be much more than the facts we know about Him. It needs to be something we experience through a personal encounter with Jesus, the living God! Jesus can calm every storm, but He does not promise to do that. All too often, we must go through the storms and deal with all the fear and terror of it. That is why Rembrandt chose to capture this moment. He brilliantly captures two things at once. The first is the fierceness of the storm that is filling the ship and, by all appearances, does all in its power to sink it to the bottom of the sea. But, in the painting, the ship is not sinking. It is being raised up as if held on high by some great power. This is the great truth that gave Jesus such calm - the storms will rage against us, and it may feel like we are about to die (and maybe we will), but He is holding us up in the storm. He is the Mighty God, and He has us in His hands. Therefore, we can face the storm with courage because we know who He is, and we can trust Him.